A/N: Alrighty! I'm loving the response dudes! Keep it coming!
As usual, I own nothing. Don't sue me. Please. I beg you, don't sue me.
Enjoy!
After her lunch with Shoshanna, Klara went about her day as usual. She ran her errands, went by her grandparents house to drop off a few things they had asked her to pick up the previous day when she'd run into Emmerich, popped into the bookstore to pick up a few novels she'd been wanting to get by her favorite author, and so on and so forth. She wasn't finally heading back to her home until it was nearly nightfall and she sighed heavily when she remembered she wouldn't be staying there for long. Klara would be heading to the woods for the third night in a row to leave her note of warning for Dieter, which wasn't sitting particularly well with her right then. She didn't like to frequent the forest often as she was afraid it would look too suspicious should anyone be keeping tabs on her for some reason, but she didn't have a choice – her comrades needed to know what was coming their way, it was simple as that.
She could feel the nerves building up inside of her as she tried, again, to wrap her head around the fact that Kurt would be visiting her soon. It shouldn't have been too big of a surprise since he had attempted to make regular visits here and there, but she had hoped that he would be too busy with his 'duties' to come and see her. The Standartenführer was keeping him so busy these days that he hardly had time to converse with her through mail; it was just her luck that he would be coming right to her doorstep.
Not for the first time, Klara found herself wondering just what Kurt would think if he were to find out what it was she occupied her time with. He had surely dealt with plenty of people that harbored refugees and she was fairly positive that he himself had carried out their punishments, but what would he d if he knew about her secret? And how would he react if he knew she'd hidden the Bear Jew in her house when he was being chased by German soldiers? Would Kurt treat her with the hostility he reserved for his victims? Or would their blood relation save her from corporal punishment? She was, after all, the only family that he chose to claim these days.
Whatever his response, Klara would never regret the things that she had done. Kurt could be as angry as he wished, punish her as much as he desired, but she would accept whatever came her way with her head held high. To her, Kurt had tarnished their family's name with the work he and Landa had been doing – it was strangely satisfying to know that she, in turn, would receive her chance to tarnish his pristine reputation some day.
As she neared her house, a figure on her doorstep came into view and made her hesitate. She squinted in the dark as she tried to make out the figure and cursed the not-so-well-lit street when she was forced to move closer to get a better look. When the mysterious figure turned to face her, it only took a second to recognize him – military boots, a crisp uniform, perfectly styled hair, a bouquet of roses; Emmerich Haugg was standing on her porch and now looking at her with a wide grin.
"Good evening, Miss Bathurst." Emmerich said in their native tongue.
Klara nodded at him and smiled politely, glancing back and forth as she looked to see if anyone else was present. "Emmerich…I was not expecting to see you again so soon, especially not here." She responded, motioning to her house as she walked up the porch steps to join him.
Emmerich actually looked a little embarrassed and ducked his head for a moment. "Forgive me. I know that it is very forward of me to arrive on your doorstep not once but two nights in a row, and I do hope that it will not make your neighbors think differently of you if they have seen me. I simply could not wait to see you again. You've made quite an impression on me." He explained quickly, his eyes never breaking contact with hers. "I was sincerely hoping that you would allow me to treat you to both a dinner and perhaps a show at the cinema not far from here." Emmerich suggested quickly.
Klara looked at him for a long moment, weighing the options in her mind. She generally knew better then to turn down men such as Emmerich; he was obviously quite sure of himself and confident that he would be able to get her to fall for him, and men like him didn't take rejection well. He would either react in a hostile way or simply pursue her even further. On the other hand, if she encouraged him too much, she may not be able to get rid of him. She was in quite a pickle right then.
"If you would rather not…" Emmerich began to say, a frown gracing his features.
"No, no." Klara found herself saying quickly. "One night in your company should not hurt me too badly." She said, trying to sound lighthearted and joking. Inside, she was cringing and slapping herself for having given in to his request. Stupid, stupid, stupid…
"Wonderful!" Emmerich exclaimed happily, taking a few steps towards her now. Then he extended his arm to hand her the flowers he'd obviously brought for her. "For you." He said simply, a huge grin on his face. "I made sure that only the best were chosen."
Klara accepted them with a quick 'thank you' and then moved to unlock her door. "If you would not mind waiting in the living room," she said with a bit of reluctance, "I need to change into something more suitable." She finished explaining before opening the door and walking in. For a brief moment she wished that the Bear Jew had left behind some hint of his presence from the previous night so that it might scare Emmerich off, but she knew very well that he hadn't – she'd checked.
"I will wait very patiently." Emmerich promised her before taking a seat on her couch, but only after she granted him permission.
Klara walked into her bedroom and shut the door, rolling her eye dramatically and shaking her head as she changed into a simple navy blue colored dress and donned a fancier pair of heels then the ones she'd previously been wearing. She supposed that Dieter would have to wait another night unless she was able to worm her way out of the date early. The cover of darkness was always welcome when she was headed towards the secret meeting spot but she hated leaving whenever it was too late at night. It always made her uncomfortable.
Emmerich was inspecting a picture of her father and her brother when she returned to the living room and she watched him set the frame down hastily. He stood up, smoothing out his uniform, and smiled at her. "You look beautiful." He complimented.
"Thank you." Klara responded, glancing at the picture frame. Emmerich did too and then shrugged at her.
"I was surprised to see that you did not have a picture of your brother in uniform." He commented idly, glancing down at the frames on her coffee tables. Klara nodded in understanding and walked over to her drawer, pulling out a large envelope. Emmerich laughed heartily for a moment when she produced a picture and handed it to him before he sobered up and looked at it admiringly. "Why on earth would you hide such a worthy picture?"
"I needed to get it touched up." Klara lied as she tried to take the picture back from him.
Emmerich was entranced though and refused to hand it over right away, making her stare at him with barely concealed impatience. They were all alike, every last soldier in the SS. All were fascinated by those who had 'accomplished' more then them, all equally as enthralled when looking upon the face of those most responsible for the deaths of the Jewish civilians in Europe. They looked at them like they were some sort of God, something they strived to be. She turned her eyes to the photo, looking at the faces of herself, her brother, and one of the most feared men in Europe before her thoughts returned to the night that the picture had been taken…
"Klara!" Kurt called over the crowd, waving her over with a few quick jerks of his hands.
She smiled politely as she weaved her way through the party, stopping briefly to talk to officers or soldiers that stopped her before finally making her way to her brother. She and Kurt looked similar with their light blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and slightly tanned complexions, but where Kurt had very strong and angular features, Klara had a rounder and softer face. She looked much kinder and much more caring then Kurt's hard, authoritative appearance. He was handsome, that was undeniable, but almost in a dangerous way.
"Yes, brother?" She asked with a smile when she finally reached him. There was a man standing next to him that she had never met before but Klara had a very strong feeling that she knew exactly who he was. He stared at her with open interest and she forced on a smile, nodding to him dutifully.
"I would like you to meet someone very important." Her brother revealed. "Klara, this is Standartenführer Hans Landa." He introduced as he pushed her closer to the older man.
The name brought on a torrent of emotions within her. He was, without a doubt, one of the biggest threats to the Jewish community and she was undoubtedly angry at him for what he'd been doing. The tiniest shock of hatred shivered down her spine but as quickly as she saw red in her unnoticed fury, the emotion was overridden by a wave of nervousness. She then found herself in awe of the sudden terror that he made her feel. Landa was staring at her with a wide, unwavering, close-lipped grin and while she assumed he was trying to look polite, he looked quite menacing. He grabbed her hand in a quick and graceful swoop, pressing a quick kiss to it.
"Standartenführer, may I introduce my one and only younger sister, Klara."
"You did not lie, Kurt." Landa said as he let her hand slip from his slowly. "But I would say that she is even more beautiful then your description."
Klara blushed but couldn't seem to form any words to his statement, at a loss of what to say. That was, until, Kurt nudged her very discreetly. "You are too kind." Klara managed out quickly.
"Nonsense. It is you who is kind enough to allow your brother to hold this celebration in your lovely home, Miss Bathurst, so that we may look upon true beauty. I must say, after the scum we come across day in and day out, you and your home are truly a welcoming and pleasant sight." Landa said smoothly, motioning his hands grandly the whole time. Klara had heard that he was very charismatic and she could now see that all the rumors were true.
"Klara welcomes us with open arms, Standartenführer. This I assure you." Kurt boasted proudly. Klara smiled at him and nodded.
"You must be so very proud of your brother. Of all the soldiers I have met in my long career, Kurt has shown the most ambition and promise." Landa said, nodding in Kurt's direction as her brother waved to another officer that was coming towards them.
"Of course I am." Klara said with a nod, lying through her teeth. "Our parents, rest their souls, would have been simply overjoyed to see the progress Kurt has made these few short years. I am thankful that I have been privileged to see him blossom in your ranks." She really was beginning to get very good at lying.
"Good, good." Landa said with the same stretched smile as Kurt chatted away with an older and very portly officer. "Though he did relay some interesting information to me only last night…" He began to say, his eyebrows creasing as his smile fell a bit. "He informed me you would be moving to France. Why, might I ask, would you want to leave the country?"
Klara gulped quickly and made a face that she hoped expressed sadness. "I am very sad to go, Standartenführer, but our grandparents are very old and can no longer care for themselves. They contacted me to ask if I would come to stay nearby and be there to help them." She explained quickly. Landa was nodding his head, his eyes staring unblinkingly at her. "I would have requested a live in nurse but after the loss of our parents, I would feel much more secure looking after our only remaining family myself."
Landa appeared a bit more convinced, even impressed, and nodded his head. "Very noble of you."
"Now, what have I missed?" Kurt asked as he rejoined their conversations.
"Your sister was just explaining to me her very noble reasons for leaving our lovely country and I must say, I am very impressed." He said. Kurt was practically beaming with pride at her. "I have met many women but the strength and maturity your sister shows is very admirable. The Bathurst family continues to amaze me."
At that moment, a tall man carrying a large and bulky camera popped up nearby. "Standartenführer, would you mind posing for a picture?" He asked, looking a bit nervous.
"Certainly, but only if I may pose with my two friends here." He said, placing a hand on Klara's back and pulling her in closer to him. She almost jumped out of her skin but resisted the urge when Kurt joined them on her other side. The camera flashed a moment later and the photographer thanked them profusely before taking two more and weaving his way back into the crowd.
"We shall definitely have to get a copy of that." Kurt commented as he moved away. Klara realized that Landa still had his arm around her and gently removed herself from his grasp, even as he continued to stare at her.
"Yes. I shall too." He said, his mouth stretching into another smile.
"If you do not mind me asking, when was this picture taken?" Emmerich asked as he finally handed it back to her. Klara took it and went back to the cabinet to pull out a large frame to put it in. She figured it would be better to keep the photograph out while Emmerich was still there.
"Last year – just before I moved to Paris." Klara answered before propping the picture up on her table. Emmerich looked absolutely amazed as he nodded his head.
"You are very lucky." He said.
Klara nodded reluctantly, starting to feel quite annoyed with the way he was acting and glanced at her clock before motioning to it. "We should go before it gets too late." She suggested, walking to her coat hanger to grab her jacket and wrap it around her. Emmerich nodded adamantly and jogged to her door to hold it open for her. She walked past him with a small smile, glancing around once she was on her porch. She was almost praying the Bear Jew would pop up and save her from the date.
This time around, Emmerich asked more questions about her. He wanted to know her hobbies, her aspirations, and he of course inquired as to whether she had any plans to move back to Germany. She tried to keep her answers vague, not wanting to give away too much of her personal information, and by the time they were headed to the cinema Klara was not only dying to get away from him, but skillfully avoiding his right hand, which seemed determined to link with her left.
Emmerich greeted a number of men when they entered one of the theaters and Klara noticed that many of them turned to look at her curiously. She smiled politely to people she passed as they went to their seats, not missing the way Emmerich was motioning back and forth between them. It was clear he wanted people to know they were there together; it took all of her self control not to roll her eyes. Klara made to her seat before he did and stood in front of it while she took off her coat. A glance up at the projector room revealed Marcel, Shoshanna's lover, as he moved around and prepared the movie reels. When she finally took her seat and looked to see where Emmerich was, she froze.
She easily recognized the two soldiers that he was talking to – they had been in the group of soldiers that had been chasing the Bear Jew the night before.
When they saw her looking at them they nodded at her quickly. She waved back slowly and then watched Emmerich make his way towards her. Once he was seated, he turned to her and grinned.
"Friends of mine." He said, motioning to the two soldiers. "They had informed me that they were by your house last night and that you had mentioned my name…it was what gave me the courage to come back a second night." Emmerich admitted. "I was confirming to them that I was the Emmerich you spoke of." He finished proudly.
"Did they tell you why they were by my house?" She asked curiously.
"Yes." Emmerich said with a nod, now looking concerned. "And I would advise you not to walk the streets alone if that neanderthal is still running loose in your neighborhood. We have all heard of the things he has done to men…I would hate to see what he would do to a woman." He said before the lights dimmed and the show began to play.
Klara just smirked to herself, turning her attention to the screen.
Emmerich left her on her doorsteps after planting a very awkward kiss on the cheek and receiving strict instructions from her to leave word the next time he wished to spend time with her. He had accepted her excuse that it was inappropriate for him to continuously show up on her doorstep and promised her that he would send her a note the next time. Klara glanced at the clock once she was inside her house and immediately went to change when she saw that the night was still fairly young. If she moved quick enough, she'd be able to get to the meeting spot at a decent time and be back home before it was too late.
It was always much quicker for her to move alone since she wasn't nearly as conspicuous and she didn't have any trouble weaving through the streets that night. Once she was at the clearing a short time later, she stopped and peeked around the trees. The looked motionless and unthreatening and once she was convinced that she was very much alone, Klara moved towards the tree that had a large hole squirrel hole in the trunk. The hole was just low enough for her to reach when she was on her tiptoes and she quickly produced the note for Dieter before reaching up to stuff it into its usual hiding place. Then Klara turned and quickly began to make her exit, wanting to get out of there as fast as she could.
She'd made it about ten feet away from the clearing when an arm reached out from behind a tree and wrapped around her neck. It wasn't wrapped tight enough to strangle her but it certainly kept her in place and Klara began to struggle against her captor, kicking at their limbs and trying to dig her elbows into their sides.
"Release me at once!" She hissed angrily in German.
"I told ya." A voice murmured near her ear in English. "I don't understand ya when ya speak in German, lady."
The voice was a familiar one, even though she'd only heard it for the first time the previous night, and immediately Klara stopped struggling. The Bear Jew released her and she turned around to face him, barely able to make out his features in the dark but unable to help the distasteful glare on her face in response to his less then cordial greeting. "What are you doing here?" She hissed at him. "And how did you even know it was me?"
"I could ask ya the same thing." He shot at her, choosing not to respond to her questions. "In fact, I will – what the hell are ya doin' out here?" He asked her with an angry edge to his voice. Klara was fairly confident that whatever trust she might have gained with him the previous night had been shattered by her appearance in the woods she now knew to be the location of the Basterds' camp.
"It's none of your business." Klara responded, irritated with him for his brusqueness.
"Ya better make it my business or my friends surrounding ya right now will have something to say about all this…and ya won't like what's on their mind." He warned her. She glanced around nervously but couldn't make out anything other the dark trees and the man in front of her. "Ya see it looks pretty suspicious, you being here after showing me the way out last night. Makes me wonder if maybe ya brought some friends along this time."
Klara looked at him for a long moment then shook her head. "It would be very far fetched for me to come back to this area of the woods in hopes that you might be wandering near by." She explained, quickly eyeing the weapon he was wielding. The Bear Jew was not holding a bat this time; he'd instead opted for a sawed-off shotgun and it was resting against his shoulder as he eyed her disapprovingly. "Like I said yesterday, I could have easily turned you in last night if I wanted to."
He watched her for a moment then wordlessly reached forward and grabbed her roughly by the collar of her coat, dragging her back into the clearing. Klara struggled against him the whole way but her attempts to free herself were futile seeing as he was much stronger then her. When she was about to simply slip out of her coat and make a run for it, he lurched her forward and grabbed her by the arm instead. She knew there would be no escaping his grasp and did her best not to panic, watching their surroundings warily. When they stopped walking, Klara noticed that they were stopped directly in front of the tree she used to pass along messages to Dieter.
"Grab whatever it was ya put in there, blondie." The Bear Jew growled.
Klara looked up at him for a long moment, finally able to see his face clearly since the clearing allowed enough moonlight to show through and light up everything around them, and her first thought was that Emmerich's looks were absolutely put to shame when compared to the man in front of her. Her second, she noted with a gulp, was that the Bear Jew didn't look pleased with her in the slightest right then. She didn't waste another moment to reach up and grab the note before slapping it into his hand. He stared at her for a second then unfolded the paper to read it. Then he frowned and looked at her skeptically.
"What the fuck does this even mean?" He snapped at her, not understanding the code words.
"It is a note of warning for a friend who will find it useful." She informed him.
That was around the time when Klara spotted the large knife hanging from his hip. Suddenly the idea that this might be her escape route struck her and she began to quickly devise a way to get the knife from him, just in case he deemed her a spy and decided to kill her. He was glaring down at the note again, looking between it and her very suspiciously, and when he finally moved to shove it back into her own hands Klara acted – she latched onto his hand to restrain him as well as she could then quickly grabbed for the knife on his hip, unsheathing it and holding it up to his throat in the blink of an eye.
He was grinding his teeth in obvious annoyance but the sound was drowned out by the distinct sound of multiple triggers being pulled back. She must've had at least four guns trained on her right then and she knew she'd be dead in a heartbeat if she made any move to injure the man in front of her, but Klara held her ground and glared at The Bear Jew in challenge.
"Ya got balls made outta pure brass, lady." He commented, the annoyance on his face fading away to amusement. He could have easily blown her away with the shotgun in his hand but he had made no move to use it. In fact, he didn't even really look all that concerned with the current predicament or the knife against his throat.
"And you need to learn not to manhandle women." Klara responded. His hand was still being clutched tightly in her own and when that fact registered through her mind, she almost became distracted enough to drop the knife. She could feel calluses and tough skin on his palms and fingers but the feeling was not unpleasant at all; he felt masculine and rough and she found herself liking very much the way her hand fit in his.
They stared each other down for a few more beats until he finally spoke up. "Back off, boys." He called out.
She heard the sound of triggers being moved back into their original places and slowly lowered the knife from the Bear Jew's throat as she released his hand. Klara flipped the knife to catch it by the blade and hold out the handle for him to take; he pulled a face at it and grabbed it from her slowly, returning it to its home on his hip and watching her closely as she reached up to put the note back in its original place. "Leave that there. It is very important that it gets through to the person it waits for." She said, looking around so the others would know to leave it alone as well, even though she couldn't see them. Then she looked back up at the Bear Jew. "May I leave now? I would rather not deal with the scum on the streets tonight."
"Then maybe ya should stop sneaking around. It looks pretty suspicious on your part." Was The Bear Jew's retort. It was, of course, said with a smirk.
Klara knew he still didn't trust her and she didn't blame him but she wasn't exactly sure that she trusted him, either. But as she turned to leave, Klara couldn't help but want the approval of both he and the Basterds surrounding them. She was helping their people, after all. She continued on, mindful of the eyes trained on her back the entire way, and only hesitated when she reached the edge of the clearing. The Bear Jew straightened up when she turned around to face him again, obviously on guard again.
"And in case you were wondering, that note was warning someone that a person of interest will be nearing Paris very soon. You probably know him…" Klara revealed, staring him down as she crossed her arms. He looked a bit intrigued now and tilted his head expectantly as he waited for her to continue. "I believe many people refer to him as 'The Jew Hunter'." Klara finished.
At once his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Her revelation had clearly stunned him and when she turned to leave she was not so surprised to hear him following her. Klara glanced over her shoulder and saw he had come to a halt about halfway through the clearing. "Who the hell are you?" He asked her, sounding like he absolutely did not understand her at all.
"You shall find out soon enough." She said before turning and leaving. He didn't follow this time.
A/N: Review!
